Me and You
by FabrayFan
Summary: If the fact that I wasn't in love with my 'soul mate' wasn't bad enough it probably doesn't help that I'm in love with his best friend. Claire x Jake
1. Chapter 1

I know now should be the time that I'm fawning over Quil and we can finally start a relationship because I'm 17 and he's been 17 for a long time, just waiting for me to finally grow up. I think he was hoping for me to come around last year and tell him I love him and that I want to be with him but I didn't. I know he's hoping for it even more this year even though he doesn't say it because he doesn't want to put any pressure on me. He knows that I know we're 'soul mates' and we're 'meant to be together', well at least that's what the tribe thinks.

And I love Quil I really do, but I'm not in love with him. I've never been in love with him, and I don't think I ever will be. I've tried forcing myself to look at him the way he looks at me, and to try to make myself love him but it just doesn't work like that.

For awhile I thought maybe something was wrong with me. I mean I can see the way he watches me and how he lights up when I walk in the room. He loves me unconditionally and I know he would do anything for me. He even went back to school so he could be with me, and convinced a few of the other guys who decided to stay forever young (Jacob, Embry, Seth, and a few of the other wolves who turned later than them) to come along with him. All my friends are jealous that I have a nice guy like Quil and they say that they wish he was their boyfriend.

And if the fact that I wasn't in love with my 'soul mate' wasn't bad enough it probably doesn't help that I'm already in love with someone else. Well love may be a strong word, but I've heard if you have a crush on someone for longer than three months it's love and I've had a crush on Jacob Black since I was around like 14. Anyways it's not like the guy has absolutely no idea that I exist because he does, we're even friends. He looks at me, but never the way I want him to, and sometimes the way he picks on me could be mistaken for flirting by people who aren't in the Pack and have no idea that I'm supposed to be bound to Quil, but it still makes my heart race.

He knows he drives me crazy, just not how crazy or why. Right before my homecoming dance in freshmen year he wolf whistled at me and said 'Lookin good Kiddo.' Quil smacked him and told me I looked beautiful but from the smirk on Jacob's face I knew I was blushing.

And sometimes when I'm sitting on the couch at Emily and Sam's place once he gets off patrol he'll come in and sit with me. I almost had a heart attack the first time he rested his arm on the back of the couch behind my shoulders until I realized he was just trying to get comfortable. He was the first person to take me cliff diving when I was 13 because the others all thought I was still to young to jump off the big cliffs all the rest of the guys do. Once he even flopped down on the couch and rested his head on my lap with his face turned to the tv without saying anything, then he fell asleep. I didn't bother him but when Quil came in he yanked him off me and gave him a dirty look.

I'm pretty sure Quil picked up on the fact that I've had a crush on Jacob for awhile, either that or he's jealous that we just seem to have this chemistry that he and I don't. It might have to do with the fact that each day he's getting more and more anxious that I might not be in love with him. But throughout all the years of me wishing Jacob looked at me as more than a friend he never did, and he always respected me for the fact that I was Quil's Imprint. And even though Quil can see it Jake's just completely oblivious to the fact that I have not-so-friendly feelings for him.

Probably because I'm his best friends Imprint.

...

He's my partner in chemistry. Not to say that Jacob is stupid or anything but he struggles with it more than I do. But it's probably because he's always running around on a few hours of sleep every night. Plus he's not the most patient person in the world so once he has it in his mind that he doesn't understand something it takes a while to convince him otherwise.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Jake said staring down at the paper in front of him. He was sitting across the table from me, looking down at one of the worksheets Mr. Ames had given us to do for homework. For the past 15 minutes he'd been tapping his pencil against the table quickly as he stared at the book but he hadn't even moved his pencil in the direction of the paper.

"It's not that hard."

"Yeah, if you're a freakin' rocket scientist." Jacob mumbled and I felt my lips curve up as I walked around the table and pulled out a chair to sit beside him.

"Thanks Claire." he said and I turned my head to the side to look at him. I stared up at him and Jacob flashed me a smile before he brushed a hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. I couldn't seem to drag my eyes away from him even though I know I should. I tried repeating the fact that he was Quil's best friend over and over again in my mind but that didn't keep the stupid dreamy smile off my face as I looked at him.

"Hey Claire, Jake." Quil said walking in the house and he grinned at me. I jerked away from Jacob even though I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong and he raised his eyebrow at me. His eyes turned on Quil and he nodded slightly in greeting before he looked back down at his paper.

"Uh hey Q." I said and he walked over to stand behind a chair across the table from us, resting his hand on the back of it as he looked at me. The little smile was still on his face and he shifted back on his heels anxiously before he opened his mouth to start speaking.

"I was thinking maybe we could go get something to eat in Forks. Seth said they have this new restaurant that opened and it's a buffet. It's got those little hamburger things you like."

"I would, but I'm helping Jake with chemistry." It's not that I think Jacob would mind, because I know he wouldn't care at all if I went out with Quil. He'd probably be happy for us, but being alone with him always just made me feel awkward. I have no idea what to say to him and he has no idea what to say to me so you can pretty much cut through the air with a butter knife. You would think being around him for 14 years would make things a little less wierd but it wasn't. Aunt Em said that he was awkward with girls though long before he met me and the fact that he was completely in love with me didn't help any. I didn't know what to say after she said that.

"Oh." Quil said quietly. I tried not to notice the way his mouth turned down and his head lowered slightly and Jacob gave me the perfect distraction.

"No it's cool. You guys go out and have fun." he said standing up and running his fingers through his hair slowly.

"Are you sure?" I asked looking up at him and he nodded before he headed towards the door. Jacob leaned against it glancing back at us, giving me the smile that makes my heart pound so hard I'm pretty sure everyone within 50 feet can hear it.

"Yeah, I have to go patrol with Brady anyways so I'll see you guys later."


	2. Chapter 2

It was a pretty normal day except for the fact that I actually decided to hang out with someone from outside the Pack. It's not that I don't have friends it's just that most of the time I'd rather be with Embry, Jake, and the rest of the guys than with other girls from school. But anyways the point is that I was walking through the woods after the sun went down, on my way home when I saw him.

"You shouldn't be walking in the woods at night." Jacob said watching me. His eyebrows were furrowed as he watched me, his eyes tracking my every movement while I walked to stand around five feet away from him. It was the first time I'd ever seen him look dangerous and threatening. Sure I've seen Jacob mad but not as mad as he looked at the moment, and I wondered if he was on patrol with one of the other kids who annoyed him or if something had happened during the day.

"Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous."

"Isn't that why you're here?" I asked tilting my head to the side slightly. I've always known I could get away with more stuff with Jacob than I can with Quil but from the look on his face it was clear that he wasn't happy to see me. He was the first one to take me cliff diving. Quil thought it was dangerous but Jake took me anyways because he knew how bad I wanted to go. He took me on my first motorcycle ride too, which Quil just about had a heart attack about when he found out.

"You know better." He said dryly.

"Come on Jacob lighten up."

"Do you have any idea how upset Quil would be if he was the one who found you out here?" he asked raising an eyebrow, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Well I guess it's a good thing he didn't."

"I'm being serious Claire. Quil would freak out." I remember when I was old enough to start walking around by myself Quil had warned me to stay out of the woods and he'd tried drilling it in my head ever since. He doesn't mind if I'm with one of the guys from the Pack but if it's anyone normal he flips. I remember once I went in with a few kids from school while I was hanging out with them and when he found out he grilled me about it for almost an hour, talking about how dangerous it was and a bunch of other crap like that.

"Maybe I wasn't thinking about Quil.

"Maybe you should start."

"He's not my dad Jacob. He can't tell me where I can and can't go." I think a lot of the boys think that Imprinting makes them in control of the relationship. Don't get me wrong, I know Kim loves Jared and Rachel loved Paul but the way they do whatever the guys tell them to just seems a little bit controlling to me. And I hate it more than anything when one of them tries to tell me what to do, especially Quil.

"He's just looking out for you." Always their excuse.

"Well I can look out for myself." I said crossing my arms over my chest and Jacob rolled his eyes before he nodded his head in the direction of my house.

"Let's go."

"What?"

"I'm walking you home."

"I can walk myself thanks." I said brushing past him, so close I could feel the heat radiating off his skin. I heard Jacob sigh loudly as I walked for a minute before he started trudging after me.

"That time of the month?" he asked and I felt my temper flare as I stopped walking and turned to glare at him. He raised his hands innocently taking a step back away from me like he thought I would smack him. "Geez, I was just kidding with you."

"I'm not a kid anymore!" I yelled exasperated and Jacob stared at me like I was stupid.

"You think I don't know that?"

"You don't act like it." Jacob's eyebrow shot up as confusion spread across his face.

"Well what do you expect me to do Claire?" he asked confused.

"Treat me like a normal girl!"

"I do!"

"No you don't." I said shaking my head.

"What the hell do you want me to do Claire? Act like you don't exist like I do to most of the other girls in school because I can't risk them finding out the truth about me and the rest of the Pack?"

"You don't act like that around Lindsay." Not that I'm hating on Lindsay or anything because she's one of my best friends. But sometimes the way Jacob looks at her makes me feel like throwing up. He watches her the way a normal guy would watch the head cheerleader, or even a pretty girl on the beach. Just from the look in her eyes it was clear that he _wanted_ her. And the fact that she caught Jacob's attention automatically made me like her a little bit less.

"Because Lindsay's your friend, and you're like my sister." he said dragging me back to the present and I tried not to flinch when he called me his sister.

"You don't treat her like a sister."

"So what Claire? Do you have any idea how long I've been alone with the guys and Leah? I didn't know it would kill someone if I flirted with a cute girl." I know better than anyone that Lindsay had given Jake the chance to do more than just flirt with her. She'd practically thrown herself at him but he hadn't taken the bait. I have no idea why he didn't do anything but he didn't.

"I'm not saying it will."

"Then what? You want me to flirt with you or something?" he asked and I felt my cheeks turn bright red.

"I never said that." But I have no idea how many times I wished he would. That he would look over at me and the slow smile would spread across his face as he watched me, his eyes tracking my every movement. The nice little image in my mind was ruined again by the sound of his voice.

"Well please help me, because right now I really don't understand what you're trying to tell me."

"You treat me like I'm Quil's. Sometimes I wonder if anyone ever thought about the fact that maybe _I_ don't want to be with Quil. Or that I can choose who _I_ want to be with, and no stupid Imprint gets to decide my future for me." Jacob's eyebrows shot up so high they almost disappeared into his hairline. Confusion swam around in his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Do you want to be with Quil?"

"No."

"It's just because you're young." He said and I shook my head slowly. I've thought about it over and over and my feelings have never changed.

"No it's not Jacob. I don't love Quil the way he loves me, and I never will. I don't know what went wrong in my mind but I'm not in love with him." I could feel my eyes starting to tear up so I looked towards the ground. "I don't know when I realized that I didn't love him the way Sam loves Emily and Paul loves Rachel, and I've been keeping it inside for so long because I have no idea how you all would react."

Jacob looked like he had no idea how to respond to that. He scratched the back of his head, probably trying to wasted more time, before his eyes traveled over to me.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I was scared. Just because I don't love Quil doesn't mean I don't care about him and I know telling him the way I feel will break his heart. I care about everyone in the Pack and if I don't have an Imprint there's no reason the Pack should keep me around. I know it's selfish but I love you all to much to let any of you go." I felt my eyes start to get teary and Jacob frowned reaching forward to rest his hand on my shoulder.

"No matter what happens with you and Quil, I'll always have you're back if you need me." He looked me right in the eye as he said it, and I've known Jacob long enough to know when he says something, he means it. He wouldn't lie to me, and he wouldn't abandon me even if the rest of the Pack decided too.

"What if he hates me?" I asked quietly.

"Quil will never hate you." he said confidently as he stared at me shaking his head. For a minute I got lost in his eyes, but I felt myself snap back to attention when I noticed he was talking again. "It's not possible for him to hate you. And Imprint's aren't just for people who are meant to be together, it's a bond that connects us to someone, and that someone can be a friend or a sister. He might take it a little hard at first but he'll understand that what makes you happy is the most important thing."

"You really think so?" I asked and Jacob stepped forward to hug me tightly.

"Yeah Claire-Bear. Trust me, I know Quil better than anyone. He's my best friend."


End file.
